There have been so many atrocities in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this was really highlighted to the world after Russian troops were routed from Bucha. The war crimes that occurred in Ukraine were unbelievable, the western world and more importantly Europe were paralysed by inaction allowing this abuse to manifest.

In what was a remarkable response to the aerial footage of the dead bodies strewn on the streets by Russian troops, the Kremlin response was these were actors in a staged scene. Russian misinformation is incredibly well organised, better managed than their military operations, their cyber unit is well resourced and executed. The Russian cyber unit is well resourced and reasonably well run, I have to admit, they run a professional show.

The residents of Bucha were gunned down as they walked down the street heading to the shops for food, they were left on the street where they fell. Ukraine has a war crime investigation unit who document these crimes against humanity. When Russia is ousted from Ukraine they will be taken to the International Criminal Court where they will be tried. As the war has dragged on into the third year, we are tending to forget the barbarity that occurred in the early days of the war and we should never forget that.

I am a huge fan of the vintage Heuer collection, the chronographs from the 1960s and 1970s are of particular interest to me. During the 1970s Heuer was releasing new chronographs every couple of years with the Daytona radically different in design to the Carrera.

The Daytona chronograph best known as the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, the only chronograph in the Rolex collection. How Heuer came up with the Daytona name is their motorsport pedigree, the Daytona racetrack at Daytona Beach, Florida. The Daytona name was to appeal to US markets as Daytona International Speedway, home of the Daytona 500 race.

The movement is the in-house Calibre 12 based on the Calibre 11 architecture of the Monaco, Carrera and Autavia of the late 1960s. The left-hand crown with two chronograph pushers is a distinctive feature of the Daytona along with the two horizontal sub-dials. The 39 mm brushed stainless steel case has no lugs with an integrated bracelet. I really like the rounded edges of the Daytona, the bevels on the three link bracelet suit the rounded case.

The date window at the 6 o’clock position really balances the dial, the two sub-dial arrangement at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock is nicely balanced. The angled chapter ring with tachygraph keeps the design compact allowing the rounded case design, this is what makes the Daytona one of the best designs of the era. The plexiglass crystal was flush with the case, so this was a reasonably compact design that I would like to see revived at some point.

When you are employed by the government whether it be federal, state or local; the authorities seek to stamp out the practice of cronyism. This is achieved by promoting by merit with potential candidates assessed against specific selection criteria.

To support such a process, an independent selection committee is convened that generally consists of a chairperson, normally the head of that department with the two other members possibly selected from outside of the business unit or division. A representative from human resources may also be involved as an observer with no input to the candidate but offers HR advice to panel members.

A competitive field is established with a written application addressing specific selection criteria; this is usually a combination of behavioral and technical skills and attributes. It is indeed a skill to write an outstanding application; this is the primary means to judge an applicant. I wrongly believed this was the step to get you to the interview stage – not so.

I also learnt, even if you address the selection criteria, you may not be deemed as suitable for interview as they apply a non-transparent rating system. It is then up to the selection panel to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications, but you have to request feedback, it is not freely given. What I have learned is to always demand written feedback, the selection panel will try to get out of this – you need to insist. Now the onus is placed on the panel to explain why your application failed and they need to tell you why.

This is where the selection panel unravels; firstly they will try to tell you over the phone as they are generally a) lazy, b) incorrect in their assessment and c) hiding a preference for their pre-selected candidate. Written feedback is exactly that, an evidence trail justifying their decision process where verbal feedback and the selection process is frequently denied; despite all their attempts, a written response is required.

I began my first selection processes positively within the state government, my first three applications were successful and I was full of confidence – then I hit the ceiling. If you are lucky enough to be shortlisted and you get to the interview stage, you have more than questions to contend with. More than likely the department has already pre-selected their successor, this is usually given in support for workplace initiatives by the manager or their cronies.

If you are lucky enough to face a selection panel that is truly independent, then you just might be in with a chance of actually getting the job. If not, then you can try your luck at the supposedly independent public sector commission – but just remember, they are a government body too. Getting promoted within the government is a tricky business; you need to network, frequently, attend pointless meetings, play the political games and most importantly support the winning candidate. Competence, hard work and experience are no longer required.

So what’s next? Palestinian terrorist Yahya Sinwar was eliminated on Thursday night Perth time, this is a monumental win for the Israeli defence forces. They publicly stated they would hunt this terrorist down and when I woke up Friday morning his death wax confirmed. As Sinwar had been held in the Israeli prison system, his fingerprints, dental records and DNA were used to identify him.

So with a decentralised leadership structure used in terrorist cells, they will have a successor, possibly his brother Mohammad Sinwar. However, Sinwar was the leading cause of holding up peace discussions, he was a hardcore terrorist that used the Palestinian people as collateral, their lives were meaningless to him. Sinwar had been the enforcer of Hamas, he had tortured and murdered Palestinian people accused of collaborating with Israel.

I expected no tears and crying in the streets of Gaza, this is a person who clearly brought pain and despair to Gaza residents. Hopefully Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can use this leadership vacuum to draw Hamas fighters out of the tunnels to surrender, they can allow humanitarian aid to be brought into Gaza and they can persuade Hamas leaders to release the hostages to end the conflict. There will be no end to this war until the remaining hostages are returned.

There are still operational issues with Hezbollah to the north, I would expect them to be defeated in the next four to six weeks. Their leadership and communication have been killed and disrupted, their fighting force is being dismantled and I am confident they will lose. Just as Hamas must be annihilated in Gaza, Hezbollah must face annihilation in southern Lebanon.

Then there is Iran, what will they do? They had plans of defeating Israel through Hamas and Hezbollah, those plans are in tatters. Yes, they have launched missiles directly at Israel with limited success. Yes, some missiles have hit their targets, however for the best part, most missiles have been intercepted and shot down. There is a chance of a wider conflict erupting in the middle east, they would do well to consider their strategic defeat.

I was working late on Thursday night when a newsflash popped up, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had potentially been killed in Gaza in a military operation. As I checked through news pages seeking further information, the Israeli Defence Forces had reported that a person fitting the appearance of Sinwar had been killed and the IDF were investigating.

The death of terrorist Yahya Sinwar would be a boost for Israel, the architect of the October 7 terrorist attack is a major win for Benjamin Netanyahu who vowed to eliminate Hamas leadership and dismantle their military capabilities in Gaza. Sinwar was believed to be hiding with hostages as human shields in the tunnels in Gaza. So it will be interesting to learn how Sinwar was separated from his human shields and eliminated by IDF personnel. There are still more than 100 hostages being held for over a year in Gaza; hopefully, a step forward to securing their release.

Internally, Hamas leadership had been fighting with hardliner Sinwar believing Palestinian deaths are necessary to destabalise and defeat Israel. The Palestinian people are nothing to Sinwar, they are just collateral to be abused to achieve his objectives. Then, there are others in Hamas who believe they can achieve some political legitimacy by preserving Palestinian lives to achieve a Palestinian state in Israel. Sinwar had been the leader in Gaza since 2017 after Ismail Haniyeh had been killed and then took charge of the the political bureau after Ismail Haniyeh was assasinated in Tehran in July.

When ever I am in the Philippines I head up to Arizona Dive Centre at Subic Bay for some wreck diving. A number of eras of wrecks are available to dive from the Spanish-American War, the Second World War and the Vietnam War.

The Skyraider is a Vietnam War era aircraft that is located not too far from the airfield. I don’t know much about the event leading up to why the aircraft is in the water, one suspects an incident arising not long after take-off. There is still a parachute in the rear section of the aircraft and there was previously an oxygen mask next to the rear seat that is now gone. The boat crew locate the wreck in the bay via GPS and send a shot line down.

Every time I have dived the wreck with Arizona the shot line has just been a number of meters away from the starboard wing – they get it right. The wreck is small so the plan is to move slowly over the wreck checking every detail. The engine and propeller are missing and haven’t yet been located although we have spent a little time looking. The engine mounting is still attached so looking in there is always good, the air intake is also interesting.

The depth is reasonable, around about 36 meters so a nitrox dive gives you a reasonable time to explore the wreck. For me, the 50 caliber guns mounted on the wings is a highlight of this dive. Arizona Dive Centre are a fairly conservative dive Centre so a EAN28 mix is generally chosen, I would prefer a higher partial pressure as I was taught a 1.5 ATA was selected as best gas mix. As I’m diving with other divers who follow a more conservative profile, I generally select a similar mix as them.

These days I dive in a backplate and wing so it is pretty easy to run a set of doubles or carry a single tank with either a EAN50 mix or 100% O2 depending upon what is available. I carry a handheld HID dive light that throws out a blue beam like a light sabre. The visibility is usually poor on this dive and can get a whole lot worse with the silty bottom. Luckily for me, only the first dive has been wiped out by a hard kicking and over-weighted newly certified advanced open water diver.

I generally dive this site with experienced divers who take pride in their buoyancy and don’t kick up silt and destroying the site for the other divers in the group. The ascent is back up the shot line located a few meters from the starboard wing where all mandatory stops are executed. A hang tank if attached to the surface marker so any divers low on gas can breathe off the rig. The boat is not attached to the shot line as it would drag the weight, instead they just hang around the vicinity, they know the runtime and move in and pick up surfaced divers as required.

I have to admit, I do not know who TV celebrity chef Ed Halmagyi is. I have no idea what television show he was on or the media commitments he has. What I do know is I am appalled at the attack on his establishment on Saturday night, the Hamas symbols painted on his bakery are just not on. Whilst this is a minority of ill informed idiots, there are protests at universities, there was a protest at the Sydney Opera House that embarrassed the whole country.

I really didn’t think anti-Semitism was real anymore, yes, I have been to Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland back in 2018, so I thought I was pretty well educated on the matter. I have been to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe, that was in Berlin. I have made such I have read published text on the matter from a perspective of both history and a willingness for this to never happen again.

There was also the Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation in Paris, I was able to visit that in 2014, I had visited the memorial previously. That was a memorial for the 200,000 jews deported from Vichy France to the nazi concentration camps on the island of Île de la Cité in the centre of Paris. Countries under Nazi occupation deported their Jewish populations to the concentration camps, everyone knew it was happening and it was highly organised.

Sure, there are still neo-nazi groups around, but I really thought they were right-wing radical minority groups who were largely disconnected from the community. These are fringe groups that have no real traction in a civilised society, sure there are a few weirdos and conspiracy theorists, for the best part, the population is educated. So you can imagine my surprise with the anti-Jewish sediment running in Australia after the October 7 terrorist attacks in 2023. This is especially galling considering this is coming from our higher education institutions, this is not acceptable.

I cannot believe the Australian government is calling for a twenty one day ceasefire in the Israel/Hezbollah conflict. After the October 7 surprise attack, Israel was caught off guard from an intelligence perspective, the Israeli intelligence community was really asleep at the wheel.

After the Hezbollah leadership has been wiped out, there is no way Israel should back off now, they have targeted the Hezbollah leadership, wiped them out, taken out their communications network, and destroyed their infrastructure. The calls from the Australian government for a ceasefire is an incredulous move, they have no strategic or tactical nous whatsoever. Why would Israel now stop and allow Hezbollah to regroup to attack them? It really makes no sense, this is the time to enter southern Lebanon to wipe out the Hezbollah threat to Israel.

We all know Iran is behind funding Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi, they are attacking Israel from multiple fronts. Yes, Israel has US and British support as the US has a carrier battle group in the region as well as access to other bases in the region. Whilst Iran typically acts in a proxy manner, they have been directly attacking Israel with missile barrages in an attempt to overwhelm their missile defence system. Iran has plenty of balistic missiles and drones, they have been supplying Russia with equipment in exchange for assistance with their nuclear proram.

So far, no Iranian forces have directly attacked Israel, they know they will be humiliated in an international sense, their best bet is to destabalise Israel through their sponsored partners. We will see if this conflict escalates to a larger regional conflict, will see if the leadership in Iran works it out and backs down. I suspect not, I tend to think the Iranian leadership will try to escalate the conflict, they will fire more missiles at Israel, the coalition will respond with layered missile defences, then Israel will respond and this will be decisive.

Having worked from 1985 to 2005 in private enterprise, I joined a state government training institute in 2006 to present. I first noticed three main groups of employees in the organisation; the long haul staff who had spent 20 – 30 years as a state government employee. This group had a high working knowledge and expertise of engineering process and training; but were nearing retirement and already moving into retirement mode, they had been institutionalised and were not going to change.

This is with the exception of one manager who has past 65, and as such, is being paid out the old style superannuation who worked not only hard during the day but on average works 1½ to 2 hours in the evening at home. He is highly motivated, a work ethic that should inspire others to perform strongly to not let the team down. He is a highly valued team member but has no position power, requiring a transformational leadership approach as opposed to a transactional leadership approach.

The second group was former military personnel, mostly army, but also a number of former navy and air force personnel as well. The work ethic of this group is surprisingly casual; one would expect former military personnel to be highly structured and regimented, they are instead highly unionised and work to rule not doing more than is required.

The third group is starters from private enterprise who can further be broken into two sub groups, that is, the ones who discovered that once working for the state government, you can’t be fired and can do the minimum amount of work with no consequences. The second sub-group developed a strong work ethic in private enterprise and carries this into their new role.

The management culture is the laissez faire approach, in other words, management avoids conflict and takes a hands-off approach, no such performance management takes place as management prefers a no conflict approach despite team members clearly performing in a sub-standard manner.

There is a small group of highly motivated team members who drive innovation and change within the strategic portfolio, this group gains personal satisfaction from driving continuous improvement within the portfolio. The strategy of this group is to be an open group – that is any team member can join; however, the non-performing team members refer to the educational leaders as the purple circle.

A formal mentoring program is conducted by the motivated staff members welcoming new starters into the so called purple circle; they are given limited responsibility and roles as it takes approximately two years to develop into competent vocational educators. The majority of these new starters turn out to be highly productive team members.

I view this as a classic behavioral management dilemma; referencing the McGregor X and Y theories, I feel a more hands on management approach utilising a situational leadership approach as proposed by Hersey and Blanchard tailored to individual team members who are highly motivated and those who need to be constantly supervised to perform.

There is no doubt Rolex is one of the most recognisable luxury brands in the world. The Rolex Submariner is an iconic timepiece that has been imitated by many watch manufacturers over a long period. The Submariner was first showcased at the 1954 Basel Watch Fair so whilst not a super old design, the Submariner has plenty of history to draw upon.

The oyster perpetual description relates to both the case and the automatic movement. The oyster is the first waterproof watch Rolex ever manufactured based on the design of Paul Perregaux and Georges Peret referring to the screw-back rear case, screw-down crown, rubber seals with the crystal forming a watertight seal as the pressure forces the crystal against an internal lip. Apparently the original oyster watches had a screw-down bezel but this appears to be a superseded design now.

Apparently, legend has it that the term oyster originated from Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf believing a real oyster was sealed so tight that debris from the sea floor is unable to penetrate the inside of the shell. An oyster key is required to get into these watches with only authorised Rolex certified repairers allowed to service the watch.

The perpetual refers to the self-winding mechanical movement driven by a coiled rotor spring encased in the Oyster water resistant case. This mechanism consists of a half moon-shaped oscillating weight rotating in both directions on its axis driven by the movement of the wearer. This maintains the mainspring under a continuous tension providing the watch with a stable and constant energy source.

French commercial diving company COMEX adapted the Submariner and the Sea Dweller as standard issue saturation diver timepieces beginning in the 1960s to the sale of the company. It is somewhat ironic that a luxury brand built its reputation on working class origins with saturation divers issued the watches for free.